What does it feel like to suddenly discover that your parents are not actually your parents, but part of a network of military criminals who murdered your mother and father? Or that your mother gave birth to you one minute and was killed the next? Or that as a young child you were kidnapped and given to friends of those who tortured and killed your parents? And then to find your true family? The children of Argentina's disappeared are now young adults struggling with such complex and traumatic discoveries. For 3 decades, the Plaza de Mayo Grandmothers have been searching for their 500 stolen grandchildren, the children of their own children who disappeared in Argentina's Dirty War (1976-83). To date, 88 of these missing children have been found and have recovered their true identity. WHO AM I? tells their story.
ABOUT THE DIRECTOR:
Estela Bravo is an American documentary filmmaker who for the past forty years has divided her time between Latin America and the United States. Her 30 award-winning films have spotlighted events throughout Latin America, Africa, the Caribbean and the U.S., winning her a worldwide reputation.
The work of Estela Bravo has been aired on PBS (US), CBC (Canada), Channel 4 (UK), RAI (Italy), Canal Plus (France), ABC (Australia), as well as in Latin America. Her films have been reviewed in The New York Times, The Miami Herald, The Guardian, The Economist, Le Monde Diplomatique, and Spain's El Pais among others. Retrospectives of Bravo's films have been mounted in Madrid, London, New York and Istanbul. Her body of work is considered in the book Estela Bravo: Witness of her Times (Istanbul, 2003).
Miami-Havana (1992), a moving exploration of divided Cuban families, appeared as part of the Point of View series on PBS. The Cuban Excludables made with the Canadian Broadcasting Company, received the 1997 One World Award from the European Community and BBC as the best overseas production on British Television. Her 2001 film, Fidel, was selected for the Toronto Film Festival and received an award in New York's Urbanworld Film Festival for “Distinguished Achievement for Excellence in Documentary Filmmaking.” Who Am I?", Bravo’s latest film, received the Caracol Award for best documentary at the Latin American film festival as well as the Telesur Award.
Bravo's life-long commitment to preserving collective memory while pursuing a more humane future pervades all of her work, and her uncanny ability to gain access where others have not has earned her a singular standing in the world of documentary film.
"Award-winning director Estela Bravo's most moving documentary." –The Guardian
"With no commentary besides the words of the victims and their unrepentant tormentors, it held to light the absolute extremes of which humanity is capable." –Andrew Billen, The Times
"WHO AM I? offers no happy ending or closure–there are still 400 children missing–but finishes with a message of hope." –Simon Smythe, More 4
"This gentle film follows attempts to reunite the children with their true identities."
–Robbin Wiggs, Daily Mail, Critics Choice
"The filmmakers told the story with sensitivity–mainly by not telling it themselves…. Every word came from the victims or their saviors –Michael Deacon, The Daily Telegraph
"Moving and uplifting." –Time Out, London, Critics Choice
- Best Latin American Documentary, International Latin American Film Festival, Havana, Cuba, 2007
- People's Choice, Best Documentary, CINESUL, Rio de Janeiro, Brazi, 2008
- Best Documentary, Toronto Hispano Film Festival, Toronto, Canada, 2008
Price:
Institutional: $250.00
Festival Screening: Please contact us.